According to media reports, the US military also deployed a Sea-Based X-Band Radar to the region in September.
In the latest New Year's address to the nation, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country was finalizing preparations for another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test.
On Sunday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said the country was ready to launch a ballistic missile at any time and from any location. On the same day, former minister at the North Korean embassy in London Thae Yong-ho, who defected to South Korea in 2016, stated that North Korea seeks to complete the development of an ICBM by the end of 2017 or in early 2018.
North Korea's nuclear tests have been the source of concern for its close neighbors, Japan and South Korea, and have been criticized by different other states and organizations around the world.
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